Well, here we are December 2 and we were able to get in 18 holes of golf today. Went to Riverview today and broke the streak barely with a 79. In the beginning the putter was kicking ass again as I three putted the first 3 out of four greens. Then I settled down and even though I had only 2 one putts, did not three putt again and parred 11 out of the last 14 holes. It was a very good ball striking day as the weather did turn a little nasty with some wind and rain but for this time of year in the Burgh it was a very good golf day. Now on to another subject that is really bothering me. In some other blogs and in general, the book Five Lessons The Modern Fundamentals of Golf, by Ben Hogan, is regarded as one of the best instructional ever written. Some great pros Nick Price and Larry Nelson, to name a few, have said that this is the book that they read when they first started to learn the game. I maintain that this is one of the worst books written on golf instruction. The main problem is with the title. If it had been titled, Golf My Way by Ben Hogan, then there would be no complaint. This is not to disparage the golfer Hogan in any way. There is no question he is one of the top 3 or 4 players to have ever played the game and arguably the best. He just wrote a bad book. Remember this is a book that is just about how to hit a golf ball. There is nothing in it related to the short game, putting, or playing the game. That is not a criticism of the book but just to make clear that this is a book strictly about the golf swing. So I am heading out to San Diego next week to do a little holiday celebrating with the grandkids. This will give me a little time to go through the book in more depth so I can really rip into it next week. As I said in an earlier blog if you are a duck hooker then this is the book for you. However this book has about as much to do with the “Modern Fundamentals of Golf” as horseshoes.

2 Responses to The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer

Hogan hated putting and thought to segregate it from the game of golf. I’m not surprised that he didn’t mention it in the book, are you? Interested to read your future dissection of this classic. Thanks.